Wildlife Services

Dozens of venomous snakes, poisonous spiders, alligators, turtles and other creatures are pictured at a warehouse at 641 W. 6960 South in Midvale on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. In a phone interview from his hospital bed at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on Wednesday, James Dix, owner of Utah’s Reptile Rescue Service, said he had a heart attack and that is why he hasn’t been able to care for dozens of venomous snakes, poisonous spiders, alligators, turtles and other creatures at he left at the warehouse.

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MIDVALE — A well-known reptile rescuer is under investigation, accused of abandoning dozens of venomous snakes, poisonous spiders, alligators, turtles and other creatures at a Midvale warehouse for two weeks.

James Dix, owner of Utah’s Reptile Rescue Service, denies abandoning the animals at the warehouse at 641 W. 6960 South. In a phone interview from his hospital bed at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Dix said he had a heart attack and that is why he hasn’t been able to care for the animals. He is currently listed in serious condition.

Despite this, county and state officials say dealing with Dix has been an ongoing saga since the summer.

“Twenty years of my life I’ve dedicated, and now they’re just trying to destroy the rescue and flush it down the toilet,” Dix said.

Dix left the roughly 100 critters at the warehouse on Jan. 22, according to workers.

“He promised to have these animals out of here in two days,” said Kyle Workman, one of the workers. “It’s been two weeks-plus.”

Workman said Dix had only returned once since that time, and several of the workers had tried to feed and care for the reptiles themselves over concerns of their well-being, despite little experience of how to do so.

He characterized the situation as Dix, a subcontractor for the organization, essentially dropping the reptiles in the workers’ laps.

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“It more or less came down to, ‘You will watch these animals,’” Workman said. “‘You employ me, you are obligated to help me.’”

Dix said he got permission from his boss to bring the animals to the warehouse and that his ex-girlfriend was told by the boss that he had no problems having the animals stay a few more days.

Dix said he had to suddenly move the animals out of a building in Magna because the owner got tired of dealing with the Salt Lake County Zoning and Ordinance rules. She sold the building, and the new owner wouldn’t let him stay there. He said he moved them to the Midvale location and only planned on staying there for four or five days while they found another building.

Steve Breinholt, Deseret News

A snake is pictured at a warehouse at 641 W. 6960 South, Midvale, on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. In a phone interview from his hospital bed at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on Wednesday, James Dix, owner of Utah’s Reptile Rescue Service, said he had a heart attack and that is why he hasn’t been able to care for dozens of venomous snakes, poisonous spiders, alligators, turtles and other creatures at he left at the warehouse.

“We were going to move them Friday, and I wound up having a heart attack on the road and had to go to the hospital,” Dix said.

Workman said he ultimately contacted Salt Lake County Animal Services.

“See, one of the lizards has died,” Workman said, pointing to a carcass Tuesday. “We’ve had a few turtles perish.”

Dix said he had friends feeding the critters while he was in the hospital.

Wednesday morning, workers with Salt Lake County Animal Services assessed and removed the creatures from the Midvale location with the help of experts from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Inside the warehouse was an SUV belonging to Dix that was marked with caution signs about venomous snakes and reptiles inside.

Salt Lake County Animal Services spokeswoman Callista Pearson said Tuesday that Dix was already under investigation for suspicion of animal cruelty and abandonment after workers roughly two weeks ago removed and relocated nearly 150 animals from a space in Magna that Dix had been occupying. Pearson said a quarter of the animals appeared to be undernourished.

“It looked to us as if he had not fed or watered them for an extended period of time,” Pearson said.

Dix denies it.

“I didn’t know anything about that, but we are a rescue and some stuff comes in rough, and moving animals in the winter affects them, can put them in shock, hypothermia because they are all temperature related,” he said.

Pearson said the case would ultimately have to be screened by county prosecutors.

Dix, who was awaiting surgery Thursday, said it was not unusual for his service to receive animals that were undernourished, and he suggested that the recent matter in Magna was simply part of an ongoing dispute with the county.

He maintained that the animals he had were generally well-cared for.

Comment on this story“This is 20 years of dedicated service to the state of Utah and all the cities and counties who relied on me,” Dix said. “This has cost me thousands and thousands of dollars dedicated to whenever they call 24/7, 365 days a week, and the last thing we would do is just leave our animals and walk away from it. That’s not what happened.”

Workman said the reptiles left at the warehouse would likely receive better care if turned over to animal services.

“This is not the environment for these reptiles,” Workman said. “It’s not our responsibility as a business owner to take care of rescued animals.”

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Avoiding a Snake Encounter

To avoid snakes is really a rather difficult task. The main suggestion given is to try to keep the pet indoors as much a possible during the season when snakes are highly active. According to the school of veterinary medicine that is April -October. However this is likely very difficult to impossible for many pet owners.

Well, as far as snakes are concerned- keep in mind that most snakes want to be left alone… However when a curious pup comes along sniffing every hole in the ground, tree trunk, and leaf pile, BOOM they can get a strike from a serpentine creature that neither of you were planning on.

It is possible that your dog would be out playing when such an encounter occurs– and so, you might suddenly find your pet in distress, and not doing well. But, if you ARE with your pup walking on a trail, etc when a snake bite occurs.. Try to get a picture of the snake for reference. If your pet has been bitten, seek medical care for it immediately.

If your pet is acting unwell — the animal might be in shock. The following actions are recommended to treat your pet and keep them safe. You must act quickly to give your dog the best chance for a full recovery.

EXAMINE

Examine the dog or cat, by looking him over closely. Probe the back and down the legs.

Take note of any swollen areas.

—if you do NOT see a laceration, scratch etc., the culprit causing the issue is not visible so, therefore, could be a bite.

Carry the animal to a clean smooth area such as a tile floor, where you have good lighting.

Examine and look for puncture wounds they will likely have blood coming out.

If it has been bitten by a venomous snake, the swelling will be apparent and move rapidly up the leg.

WHAT TO DO

Nuisance Wildlife Removal, Inc. is very well known in the community as the GO-TO expert with the highest experience level in solving difficult insect and pest infestations efficiently and easily. We employ advanced technology such as thermographic cameras and Go-pro technology. This reduces the amount of damage to your structure and this will reduce the overall cost of your project.

WASHINGTON — When next you shoehorn yourself into one of America’s ever-shrinking airline seats, you might encounter a new wrinkle in the romance of air travel. You might be amused, or not, to discover a midsize — say, 7-feet long — boa constrictor named Oscar coiled contentedly, or so you hope, in the seat next to you. Oscar is an “emotional-support animal.” He belongs to the person in the seat on the other side of him, and he is a manifestation of a new item, or the metastasizing of an old item, on America’s menu of rights. Fortunately, the federal government is on the case, so you can relax and enjoy the flight.

The rapid recent increase of emotional-support animals in airplane cabins is an unanticipated consequence of a federal law passed with the best of intentions, none of which pertained to Dexter the peacock, more about whom anon. In 2013, the Department of Housing and Urban Development told providers of public housing that the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) mandates “reasonable accommodations” for persons who require “assistance animals.”

The Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 allows access to animals trained to provide emotional support. Federal guidelines say airlines must allow even emotional-support animals that have a potential to “offend or annoy” passengers, but that airlines are allowed to — let us not sugarcoat this — discriminate against some “unusual” animals.

Yet a New York photographer and performance artist named, according to The Associated Press, Ventiko recently was denied the right to board her Newark-to-Los Angeles flight with her “emotional-support peacock,” for whom Ventiko had bought a ticket.

And there is a 29-year-old traveler who insists that she cannot “think about life without” Stormy, her emotional-support parakeet. So, if Oscar’s owner says Oscar provides support, and the owner lawyers up …

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In contemporary America, where whims swiftly become necessities en route to becoming government-guaranteed entitlements, it is difficult to draw lines. Besides, lines are discouraged lest someone (or some species?) be “stigmatized” by being “marginalized.” The line JetBlue has drawn dehumanizes snakes. Yes, they are not technically human, but don’t quibble. Anyway, soon enough there will be a lobby (“Rights for Reptiles”?), and lobbies are precursors to entitlements.

JetBlue is attempting to fly between the Scylla of passengers discomforted by a duck waddling down the aisle (even though it is wearing a diaper; this has happened more than once) and the Charybdis of animal advocates who are hypersensitive to speciesism, aka anti-pet fascism.

JetBlue says that “unusual animals” such as “snakes, other reptiles, ferrets, rodents and spiders” are verboten, even as emotional-support animals.

Southwest rather sternly says that passengers accompanied by emotional-support animals had better have papers from credentialed experts certifying “a mental or emotional disability recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — Fourth Edition.” But the DSM already accords the status of disability to almost every imaginable human trait or quirk and is eager to imagine new ones.

Delta experienced a nearly one-year doubling of what it delicately calls “incidents” (urinating, defecating, biting). “Farm poultry,” hedgehogs and creatures with tusks are unwelcome on Delta, which is going to be alert regarding the booming market for forged documents attesting to emotional neediness. The Association of Flight Attendants is pleased, perhaps because one of its members was asked to give a dog oxygen because the dog’s owner said it was having a panic attack.

Now, let us, as the lawyers say, stipulate a few things. Quadrupeds, and no-peds like Oscar, have done a lot less damage to the world than have bipeds, and often are better mannered than many of today’s human air travelers. Animals can be comforting to anyone and can be therapeutic to the lonely, the elderly with symptoms of senescence, and soldiers and others suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. Studies have purported to show that people living with pets derive myriad benefits, including lower cholesterol.

But the proliferation of emotional-support animals suggests that a cult of personal fragility is becoming an aspect of the quest for the coveted status of victim. The cult is especially rampant in colleges and universities, which increasingly embrace the therapeutic mission of assuaging the anxieties of the emotionally brittle. There, puppies are deployed to help students cope with otherwise unbearable stresses, such as those caused by final exams or rumors of conservatism.

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According to animal rescuers, you have a better chance of being struck by lightning than finding an albino raccoon in the wild. Sounds like the people who found this one should go buy a lottery ticket. An albino raccoon was found injured in Pennsylvania. Rescuers say he was brought in with an infected wound on his back. The little guy is expected to make a full recovery. InsideEdition.com’s Keleigh Nealon (http://twitter.com/KeleighNealon) has more.

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Do you have concerns about raccoons in your area? Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc. is your expert for raccoon removal in Manatee and Sarasota County. Call today to speak with a trusted professional. We are locally owned, family operated and fully licensed and insured. For more information or a FREE estimate call 1-866-263-WILD or 941-729-2103.

HOURS after a snake catcher “felt nothing” from an eastern brown strike, his kidneys began to shut down. An expert says it’s due to a “stupid” misconception.

AUSTRALIA is home to some of the most venomous snakes in the world meaning snake handlers, the people tasked to get rid of them out of our homes and cars, are kept exceptionally busy.

But recently, a number of snake catchers and venomous snake owners have found themselves in the hospital at an increasing rate — and it has a lot to do with a common misconception.

William Pledger, an experienced snake catcher from Gympie, was recently called to a property in the rural Queensland town to get rid of an eastern brown snake.

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Eastern browns have some of the most toxic venom in the world.

Speaking to the Gympie Times, Mr Pledger realised he’d made a mistaken when he left “too much of him to turn around” when he was trying to rescue him from a garden bed.

The metre-long snake whipped around and latched onto his hand.

“I didn’t feel the bite at all,” he told the paper, referring to the snake’s fangs that had pierced his knuckle.

William Pledger in hospital. Source: FacebookThe bite which almost killed the snake catcher. Source: Facebook

One of Melbourne’s most prominent snake catchers, Raymond Hoser, known as the “Snake Man”, has hit out at the term “dry bite”, calling them “rare as rockinghorse s**t”.

“Dozens of snake handlers have died thinking they were dry bites. These people getting bitten thinking there’s no pain but they just collapse and die,” he told news.com.au.

“Dry bites aren’t common. I want to know who came up with the bulls**t over dry bites.”

Mr Hoser, who has been running the educational snake show Snakebusters since 2006, said the chance of a dry bite “is basically zero”.

Mr Hoser said Queensland has a bad track record when it comes to snake catchers having accidents.

“Queensland is the worst. There’s handlers teaching other handlers who have no expertise whatsoever and they go out and catch snakes with metal tongs. It’s not good,” he said.

Despite Mr Pledger’s harrowing experience with the eastern brown, he said his eyes have been open to the risks.

“It’s good to get a wake-up call every now and again, but I don’t want one like this for a few more years,” he said.

CREDIT: news.com.au

Nuisance Wildlife Removal, Inc. is very well known in the community as the GO-TO expert with the highest experience level in solving difficult insect and pest infestations efficiently and easily. We employ advanced technology such as thermographic cameras and Go-pro technology. This reduces the amount of damage to your structure and this will reduce the overall cost of your project.

How to Prevent Mole Infestations in the First Place!

In order to prevent mole infestations in the first place, one must understand why the moles are there. First of all a moles’ main source of food is worms. So you must make your yard most unfriendly and inhospitable as possible to worms, and subsequently moles. To do this, you can use products that control worms, grubs and insects in the lawn so that Mr mole does not have any food sources at your place, and will have to keep moving on! Also, moles and worms like a softer, and damp earth so avoid OVER-WATERING your lawn. A deep watering once a week should be enough to keep your lawn going strong without laying out the welcome matt for moles. So, what else can I do?

To prevent moles from getting into specific areas of your yard and garden, there are a couple things you can do.

Many professionals recommend installing metal mesh hardware cloth down as far as 2′ vertically plus adding 6 inches more above the ground. Also since moles prefer a less dense earth, bury rocks around your special flower beds down to 2 feet to prevent them from being able to make their way down into the grass!

If you are not a professional wildlife control specialist, you should also check local regulation prior to beginning trapping. If mole trapping is banned in your state, you must seek other alternatives. Be especially carefully using any poison or rodenticide as the accidental number of poisonings for pets and children has been on the increase lately, according to Consumer Reports.org.

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Since the tunneling of moles will destroy the roots of your grass, the ridges will then brown quickly. The sooner that you can stop the tunneling of the moles, the less damage that they can cause.

Nuisance Wildlife Removal, Inc is very well known in the community as the GO-TO expert with the highest experience level in solving difficult nuisance infestations efficiently and easily. We employ advanced technology such as Thermographic cameras and Go-pro technology. This reduces the amount of damage to your structure and this can reduce the overall cost of your project!

Coyotes are not known to be aggressive toward humans.

Always remember that a coyote is a wild animal. They are not domesticated and therefore it is very difficult if not impossible to say with certainty about their behavior. Coyotes are known to attack dogs, sheep, and other livestock, so yes they can and will bite. Coyotes attacks on humans are uncommon and rarely cause serious injuries. The overarching problem is that any animal, if it loses its fear of humans, can act more and more aggressively. It is impossible to know what any given coyote’s exposure to humans has been. So, therefore, it is best to consider any sightings with the utmost of respect– Know where the spatial boundaries are and stay well within them. Never ever feed or pet a wild animal.

Coyote in a neighborhood yard.

If a coyote was cornered, or also if there were pups around– it is much more likely they would get aggressive. Typically however, if given space the animals will run away to avoid rather than getting into a fight and risking an injury making them vulnerable.

If you don’t have anything available, act large ie. open your jacket, raise your arms and yell.

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Do you have concerns about COYOTES in your area? Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc. is your expert for COYOTE removal in MANATEE/SARASOTA County. Call today to speak with a trusted professional. We are locally owned, family operated and fully licensed and insured. For more information or a FREE estimate call 1-866-263-WILD or 941-729-2103.

If you haven’t heard yet….

Coyotes are creeping into the urbanized areas in the USA-

as we are moving into their forested areas.

Coyote in street.

And although they don’t typically attack humans, your pets may be at risk. They may view a large dog as a rival, and since a cat is such a small animal, they could be viewed as prey. This would hold true also for small dogs. It is suggested that you should NOT leave your pet out doors unsupervised. The most important times to recognize this are at dusk, dawn or overnight. You should definitely keep cats indoors and dogs on a leash. Your trash should most certainly be kept under a tight lid– and not left exposed in any way to a roaming coyote. If you have any fallen fruit from your fruit trees– that should be picked up! Be aware of any areas you have that they could use as a den. For example close up open areas under your deck. To proactively keep them out– installing a fence is one tactic you could take. Fences should be 6 feet tall, to prevent them from just jumping right over.. and 18 inches deep to keep them from digging underneath.

If you don’t have anything available, act large ie. open your jacket, raise your arms and yell.

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A spokesperson for Walmart reported Sunday, that a wildlife specialist was on site at their company’s store in Texas, conducting a “catch and release” of bats, that were first reported in the store approximately 2 weeks ago.

Bryan, a customer had spotted several bats flying in and above grocery aisles Sunday afternoon.

“We were getting groceris and went to check out,” he said. “We turned around and there were 4-5 bats flying all over the place.”

Do you have questions about scratching or chirping sounds in your attic? Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc. is your expert for bat trapping and removal in Sarasota and Manatee County. Call today and speak with a trusted professional! We are locally owned, family operated and fully licensed and insured. For more information or a FREE estimate call1-866-263-WILD or 941-729-2103.

Are Muscovy Ducks Aggressive?

Muscovy ducks are native to South America. But did you know, they are the only duck that is held in captivity, that is not a descendant of the wild MALLARD?! Please be aware however, that a Muscovy DRAKE (male) can sometimes be aggressive. If and when this does happen in Sarasota, FL or any other area, it is important that you do not ignore the problem. If the problem is not addressed, it is likely to continue and increase. This could escalate to people getting injured, bitten or bruised.

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Why do people like to have Muscovy ducks? People like to have them for a few different reasons. For the most part the animals are quiet. They can be interesting because their feathers and colors come in such a wide range of colors. Also, the drakes have a more generous amount of meat than many other ducks. If a Muscovy duck shows signs of aggression, there are several steps that can be taken. The first one is to segregate the duck away to a separate area from the others. If you can, give it a comfortable area with a fence. The next step is to train the animal by holding its beak shut and say a firm “no.” Next be sure to connect with your animal by socializing with it. For example pet it, feed it out of hand and speak with it kindly. This will help to reassure him or her that you are not a threat. Also it would be good if your duck had a mate. They are ready for this by 5-6 months of age. At the very first sign of forward or aggressive behavior, its best to discourage it promptly. Even when they are just a baby- this behavior will only get worse. There is much debate about whether a muscovy duck is good to have in your area. For more info on this discussion check out our hugely popular post on Muscovy Ducks.

True Wild Muscovy Duck

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Do you have concerns about MUSCOVY DUCKS in your area? Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc. is your expert for muscovy duck removal in Manatee County. Call today to speak with a trusted professional. We are locally owned, family operated and fully licensed and insured. For more information or a FREE estimate call 1-866-263-WILD or 941-729-2103.